Thrice
by vratsababe
Summary: Love is something you have to experience once in your life to have truly lived, I think. It feels amazing and it hurts at the same time.” LuciusxNarcissa
1. It is

Thrice Told

Chapter One: It is

Before I begin, I must mention that I own nothing. I am a very young opera student… I have nothing to my name. All characters belong to JK Rowling… yadda yadda yadda.

Young Lucius Malfoy sat in his father's study, legs flung up against the chair back, head dangling in the general vicinity of the floor, and hands searching through a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. He picked up a light pink one and popped into his mouth, then scrunched up his face at the taste of it. "Roses," He coughed, sticking his hand in the bag and finding another bean to experiment on.

A moment later, the boy's father, Abraxas Malfoy, came into the room bearing a large vase with at least a dozen roses the size of dinner plates in its water. Lucius straightened up, flinging his legs to where they rightfully belonged and straightening his askew clothing. His father was looking around the room, likely for a place to hide the flowers. Lucius didn't understand why he even had flowers; his father and mother rarely showed any sort of affection for each other.

"Father?" Lucius voiced, standing from the chair, the beans in his small hand. "Why do you have flowers for Mother?"

Abraxas seemed to have to think of a reason, "Because, it is your mother's birthday and it's custom to get a woman flowers on her birthday."

"Why?"

"Well… because roses are a symbol of affection… and women like to receive them. It makes them feel special."

Lucius pondered this reasoning, looking from the flowers and then back to his father. The gears in his mind weren't meshing up very well…

"Father? Do you love Mother?"  
Abraxas pondered once again. He fiddled with his mustache and then downcast his eyes, "You know, Lucius. I believe you're old enough to understand that there are duties that a man has in the world." His son nodded solemnly. "…and I also believe that you are mature enough to take it when I say that your mother and I have never been in love."

"If you've never been in love than how do you know that you don't love Mother?" There was no sadness in the small boy's voice as he questioned his father. In fact, he continued biting the ends off of jellybeans and spitting them out into his tiny hand.

"Just because I am not affectionate towards your mother doesn't mean I've never been in love, my son," Abraxas answered. "I was in love before… a very long time ago."

Lucius's eyes didn't leave his father's strong face. His gray eyes focused on his father's amber ones. Those inquisitive eyes poked at Malfoy Sr. for some sort of an explanation.

"Take a seat, my son," Abraxas motioned towards the same dragon hide chair that Lucius had been sprawled across a few moments earlier. "When I was sixteen," the older Malfoy began, "I was deeply in love with a young woman named Loretta."

"Loretta was the daughter of an Irish farmer. She was poor, yes, but pure of blood and swift of mind. Loretta, or Lottie, and I spent so many evenings together. She was two years younger than I, a Slytherin, and so incredibly beautiful. She had deep mahogany hair, deep green eyes, and skin as fair as virgin snow."

"Lottie and I would sneak out of school to take walks around the village, swim in the lake in the dead of night, and visit as many of the classrooms as we could just to see what they contained. She was my girl and I loved her more than I have loved anyone ever before."

"What is love?" Lucius asked his father, abandoning the beans and dropping them haphazardly on the wood floors.

Abraxas sighed, "It's everything and nothing at the same time: nothing because you can't see it, feel it, hear it, touch it, or taste it… and everything because it encompasses you completely. Love is something you have to experience once in your life to have truly lived, I think. It feels amazing and it hurts at the same time."

"Kind of like eating ice cream too fast?" The small boy piped. Abraxas laughed, "Not exactly, son…"

Lucius returned to his bag of jellybeans. He grabbed a handful, and picked through it, looking back up at his father, "But what happened to Lottie, Father?"

"She died," Abraxas answered, his voice a little quieter than usual. "She got very, very sick one day and there wasn't much the mediwizards could do about it. Her parents couldn't afford the treatments and although I offered and practically begged them to take my savings, they wouldn't take it. She was hospitalized on July 18 and in three weeks… she was gone."

Lucius felt saddened by his father's tale. His father was generally unemotional, insensitive, and unclear… but even to an eight-year-old, the story was touching and informative. Abraxas sighed as he set the flowers in the corner of the room and put a vanishing spell on them. Lucius watched his father as he looked at the spot where the roses were set and he could have sworn he had seen a look of sadness on his father's unchanging visage, but he took it as a trick of the light.

This will be a trilogy, so be sure to maintain CONSTANT VILIGANCE and watch for the next chapter. :)

Please review.


	2. Something Beautiful

Chapter Two: Something Beautiful

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Thank you to my lovely reviewers. :) The story is complete and I shall post the last chapter after you all get a chance to review.  
(Your reviews made me smile. )

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Falling in love hadn't been anything Lucius had expected. In fact, Lucius had never expected love at all.

He was nearing seventeen and she was barely sixteen. The two of them had shared classes since their beginning year at Hogwarts, but she had always been quiet, mannered, and uninterested. They had been dating for nearly two months when he knew he couldn't ever see himself with another in his life. It was a beautifully still evening in June when he sat with her on the lawns and kissed her passionately for the first time. He was her first kiss, she had told him that he would be, and he could taste the inexperience on her beautiful lips. The moonlight was filtering in from above the trees and the fragrance of the Hogwarts gardens drifted across them. Her hands rested in her lap, clenched tight in nerves. One of his hands cradled her delicate face and the other rested firmly on the small of her back.

She was so beautiful. As he pulled away from her, he opened his eyes of sleet to hers of the ocean. She smiled at him, both rejuvenated and completely terrified at the same time. He put an arm around her, holding her close to him… so close that he could smell her gingery shampoo. She settled into his arms, resting her head in the crook of his neck and shutting her eyes to everything around her. It was nearly curfew, but he would have given his prefect badge to stay there in that moment. Had he not wanted to take things slowly for this angel then he would have told her the extent of his feelings right there in that moment. He would have told her, but his heart told him to wait.

A month later, the young lovers walked barefoot through the wildflowers behind the Black family chateau in southern Wales. They had chosen to forget all rules of proper etiquette as they walked hand in hand, scooping up flowers to playfully toss at each other. The sound of the not-so-distant ocean reached them and intermingled with the songs of the birds and of their own laughter.

Narcissa dropped Lucius's hand and picked up a long stick off the ground, brandishing it as a sword. "My sisters and I used to come out here while Mother was having tea. We would pretend we were princesses and that we had to fight our way out of the tower so our princes could find us," She told him, smiling and twirling the willowy bough in her long, delicate fingers. "Mother never need know that we acted so childishly, but we had so much fun."

"Did you ever find your princes?" Lucius asked, taking a step towards her, covering her hand with his own.

"I would say so for Bellatrix, as for Andromeda, I might not say," Narcissa sighed, dropping the stick and brushing her hand off on the edge of her sundress. "I think that for me… well, they never let me find mine."

"Is that so?" Lucius narrowed the distance between the two of them, inclining his face towards hers. She stared straight into his eyes, "I might be very forward in saying this but…"

Lucius placed a finger to her rosy lips and silenced her, "You need not be proper before me, Cissa. You can leave your manners and guidelines where you wish, but you needn't hold back from me."

Her glimmering eyes shone as he took his finger away, "I think I've found my prince."

He smiled genuinely and kissed her softly, "I love you, Narcissa."

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If you want the next chapter, hit that little review button and I'll post it. (It's my favorite, I think... so hurry!)

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	3. And Pure

Chapter Three: And Pure

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I hope you all enjoy this. It concludes my little trilogy.  
But fear not. I have about 50 pages of LM/NM stories written in a notebook in preparation for a fanfic 100 that I am hoping to claim on livejournal soon.   
Read and Review!

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There was a placid silence in the Malfoy Manor. The light outside was dimming with the sinking of the sun and the torches along the hallways had lit for the rest of the waking hours. Soft piano music drifted from the open conservatory door to the entryway of the large dwelling. Lucius held his infant son as he lazily searched the halls for his dearest wife. He halted under the high ceilings of that massive room and closed his eyes; the small child rested soundly in his strong arms. He stood for a moment before he opened his eyes to his surroundings once again. He resumed his stride once again, his footsteps echoing off the stoned walls of the manor.

The doorway was ajar just enough to peer into. Narcissa sat at the pure white piano, her eyes focused on the strings of the large instrument. Her fingers glided delicately over the keys of ebony and ivory, her body swaying slightly as she delved into the music. He loved her with every fiber of his being. She was his life. The tiny son he held was their life, their creation. He looked from his wife's concentrated face to the sleeping face of his sole heir. They were so beautiful in his eyes.

He left the doorway to the conservatory and exited to the formal dining room. The chandelier lit up upon his entry, illuminating the grand room and reflecting off the silvery marble walls. Lucius took a seat at the head of the table, resting the small child he held against his shoulder. He glanced to the outdoors and the small sliver of sun that remained in the magenta sky. His sleeves collected at his elbows as he sat, one hand holding his precious son, the other rested gently on the infant's fair hair. The piano drifted into the room like a sweet echo and Lucius felt himself nodding off slightly.

It wouldn't have been an exaggeration at all to say that he was completely comfortable with his life. Although he was engaged in a purity battle, taking off at all hours of the night to risk his life, it was for the benefit of his beautiful wife and his tiny son. Although the nights he was at home, a loud cry would waken him from sleep, he knew that it was the cry of his own pureblood heir who would grow to see the world he was intended for. Although he and his wife would argue, throwing verbal blows at each other and saying hurtful things, he could always hold her close afterwards, kissing away her tears and sharing good times in other hours.

Love comes in many forms and even if it wasn't possible to experience all of them in one lifetime, Lucius was convinced that what he had was beautiful enough to last him for several eternities. As he leaned back his head and fell into light slumber, the piano music in the other room faded and then died out. Soft footsteps echoed off the walls and stopped at the entryway to the elaborate room. Narcissa approached her husband and son as silently as possible, but her husband awoke simply on her presence. She smiled down at him and wordlessly placed a kiss on his lips as innocent and pure as the first they would share.

And if the world would have ended at that moment, they would have been content.


End file.
